O.C. honors the spirit of MLK with volunteer projects

Jan. 21, 2013

Updated 1:17 p.m.

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Cade Frye, 13, of Huntington Beach and Tyler Holdaway,12, of Huntington Beach help harvest cabbage at the Incredible Edible Park in Irvine on Monday. Orange County volunteers worked on a day off for local charities in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Eli Roditi, 5, gets a close up view of mom Candice's artwork. They were part of a group of more than 30 volunteers who came together to do community service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They painted a U.S. map on the Lincoln Elementary School playground in Santa Ana. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Elijah Brooks, 6, left, of Lake Forest and Angelina Tipantiza, 7, of Anaheim join the adults in packing food boxes at the Orange County Food Bank in Garden Grove in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Teagan Holdaway, 8, of Huntington Beach helps harvest cabbage at the Incredible Edible Park in Irvine on Monday. Orange County volunteers worked on a day off for local charities in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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More than 30 volunteers from various groups paint a U.S. map on the Lincoln Elementary School playground in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Tyler Holdaway, 12, of Huntington Beach, left, and his brother Jonas Holdaway, 8, help harvest cabbage at the Incredible Edible Park in Irvine on Monday. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Joseph Palacios, left, gets an assist from his brother Jake Palacios with a crate of cabbage at the Incredible Edible Park in Irvine on Monday. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Stefan Viera of Dana Point plants lettuce at the Incredible Edible Park in Irvine. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Eli Roditi, 5, stays close to mom Candice, who was helping paint a U.S. map on the Lincoln Elementary School playground in Santa Ana. More than 30 volunteers came together to do community service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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An assembly line of volunteer artists come together to paint a U.S. map on the Lincoln Elementary School playground in Santa Ana in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ashley Mains with OC Church of Christ puts finishing touches on a map as Sofia Roditi, 6, watches. They were part of a contingent of volunteers that painted a U.S. map on the Lincoln Elementary School playground to honor Martin Luther King Jr. with community service work. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ashley Mains with OC Church of Christ puts finishing touches on a map of the U.S. at the Lincoln Elementary School playground in Santa Ana. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Chris Parker paints the Great Lakes on a giant map of the U.S. at Lincoln Elementary School in Santa Ana on Monday. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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More than 30 volunteers from various groups paint a USA map on the Lincoln Elementary School playground in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Chris Parker paints the Great Lakes on a giant map of the USA at Lincoln Elementary School in Santa Ana Monday. More than 30 volunteers took part in the project during Martin Luther King Jr. Day. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Shadows from volunteer artists create unique own art as they paint a USA map on the Lincoln Elementary School playground in Santa Ana in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Elisha Brooks, 4, center, of Lake Forest, helps her parents Eric and Katrina Brooks package boxes with food for the needy at the Orange County Food Bank in Garden Grove Monday. Three shifts of volunteers worked to packed food on Martin Luther King Day. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Elijah Brooks, 6, left and sister Elisha Brooks, 4, right, of Lake Forest, help her parents on an assembly line package boxes with food for the needy at the Orange County Food Bank in Garden Grove Monday. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Jackson Bonderer, 6, left, tosses peanut butter to his mom Melinda Bonderer, right, of Brea, at an assembly line at the Orange County Food Bank. Three shifts of Orange County residents chose to mark the Martin Luther Kind Day by volunteering. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Young volunteers play while crushing boxes at the Orange County Food Bank in Garden Grove Monday. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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This is the second year that Adele Martinez, 12 months, accompanies her mom Suzanne Martinez, background, while the family volunteers on Martin Luther King Day at the Orange County Food Bank. She was three months old when her mother brought her last year. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Kelcie Borbour, 8, right, of Fullerton, works in an assembly line at the Orange County Food Bank Monday. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sharyn Bell of Rancho Santa Margarita and Therese Franklin, of Lake Forest join three shifts of volunteers at the Orange County Food Bank Monday. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Cade Frye, 13, of Huntington Beach and Tyler Holdaway,12, of Huntington Beach help harvest cabbage at the Incredible Edible Park in Irvine on Monday. Orange County volunteers worked on a day off for local charities in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Orange County residents took to fields, warehouses, schools and other sites Monday to serve local communities in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Volunteers planted lettuce and harvested more than 500 pounds of cabbage at Incredible Edible Park in Irvine to feed the hungry of Orange County.

Some painted a colorful map of the United States on the blacktop of Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Santa Ana.

Others assembled tactile books at the Boys & Girls Club in Garden Grove to help kids learn to tie their own shoes at Blind Children's Learning Center.

King, a leader of the African American civil-rights movement of the 1950s and '60s, was known for his soaring speeches and successful use of nonviolent civil disobedience. He was assassinated in 1968.

Performing community service on his namesake federal holiday is a still-growing tradition. It's been dubbed "taking a day on.''

"Everybody can be great ... because anybody can serve," King once said. "You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

Most of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day volunteer events in Orange County were managed by OneOC, a group that connects volunteers with numerous nonprofit groups among its other services. This is the group's 14th MLK Service Day effort.

About 1,200 people volunteered in OneOC projects Monday and 500 or so more on Saturday and Sunday, chief operating officer Tim Strauch said.

Volunteers registered as individuals as well as through businesses, faith groups and universities such as Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC, Orange County Church of Christ and Cal State Fullerton, OneOC officials said.

Devon Weber of Laguna Niguel brought her two children, Taylor, 8, and Cole, 4, to help out with the harvest in Irvine.

"I wanted to remind our family of how lucky we are to have food, something we take for granted," she said. "Some people don't even know if they will eat that day. Living in Orange County, you have to open your kids' eyes to the fact that the whole world does not live like we do."

Taylor and Cole said they were having fun because they get to pull the cabbage out of the ground and throw it into buckets.

At Abraham Lincoln Elementary, roughly 30 people painted all 50 states with alternating colors.

"It's a simple project but it has a lot of impact on the kids who see it," said Marty Walsh, the volunteer project leader. "It's new and exciting for them."

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